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Monday, January 10, 2011

We continue with this series based on the Kaku documentary, Intelligence Revolution.
Most people do not yet see the explosion of intelligence all around them, but when they start to see it, it will already be well underway.

GPS DRIVEN CARS
Google recently announced that it has been testing cars that drive themselves. So far they have logged about 140,000 miles. We have no doubt that this will be a GREAT thing when it comes out. We see no reason to take something as wonderful and creative as the human mind to be involved in bumper to bumper traffic jams. Unless you LOVE driving or are enjoying a lone winding country road, most driving experiences are far from fun, especially in urban environments. Here is a video from ABC News which covers google's technology. If you cannot see the embedded video, here is the link: http://youtu.be/-nYhKD8leAg.

The engineers and technology Google is using is based in the DARPA races which were a challenge issued by this research defense agency to test driverless military cars in rugged battle conditions. You can watch this NOVA special on these famous races. If you cannot see the embedded video, here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/37hkdq9.

Of course along with this technology, like all technologies comes loss of privacy. If the car can drive itself through GPS, then the technology will exist to be able to track your car and even record the moves you make. Insurance companies would love this information to trach the last moments before an accident. Some libertarian groups question this use of the technology. Here is a video about this issue. It is the second video in the playlist. If you cannot see the embedded video here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/28nuqas.

Ubiquitous Computing
As computer chips go down in price and increase in power, it is inevitable that they will be found EVERYWHERE. They will in our clothing, our homes, our toasters, refrigerators, our shoes, and even inside us. This is a video that is already outdated in its concepts and equipment. This future coming will make this look rather quiant. Nevertheless, it does show the concept properly. If you cannot see this embedded video go here: http://youtu.be/H_gLVlYOl0w.

In our next installment we will continue with Kaku's series. We have only covered the first part so we expect this series to be a long one. Stay tuned.